The Fall of the House of Europe

by Dave Brown

by Pepe Escobar, source

The Enchanters came / Cold and old,
Making day gray / And the age of gold
Passed away, / For men fell
Under their spell, / Were doomed to gloom.
Joy fled, / There came instead,
Grief, unbelief, / Lies, sighs,
Lust, mistrust, / Guile, bile,
Hearts grew unkind, / Minds blind,
Glum and numb, / Without hope or scope.
There was hate between states,
A life of strife, / Gaols and wails,
Dont’s, wont’s, / Chants, shants,
No face with grace, / None glad, all sad.
W H Auden, The Golden Age

We have, unfortunately, no post-modern version of Dante guided  by Virgil to tell a startled world what is really happening in Europe in the wake of the recent Italian general election.

On the surface, Italians voted an overwhelming “No” – against austerity (imposed the German way); against more taxes; against budget cuts in theory designed to save the euro. In the words of the center-left mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, “Our citizens have spoken loud and clear but maybe their message has not been fully grasped.” In fact it was.

There are four main characters in this morality/existential play worthy of the wackiest tradition ofcommedia dell ‘arte.

The Pyrrhic winner is Pier Luigi Bersani, the leader of the center-left coalition; yet he is unable to form a government. The undisputed loser is former Goldman Sachs technocrat and caretaker Prime Minister Mario Monti.

And then there are the actual winners; “two clowns” – at least from a German point of view and also the City of London’s, via The Economist. The “clowns” are maverick comedian Beppe Grillo’s 5 Star movement; and notorious billionaire and former prime minister Silvio “Bunga Bunga” Berlusconi.

To muddle things even further, Berlusconi was sentenced to one year in prison last Thursday by a Milan court over a wiretapping scandal. He will appeal; and as he was charged and convicted before, once again he will walk. His mantra remains the same: ”I’m ‘persecuted’ by the Italian judiciary.”

There’s more, much more. These four characters – Bersani, Monti, Grillo, Berlusconi – happen to be at the heart of a larger than life Shakespearean tragedy: the political failure of the troika (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund), which translates into the politics of the European Union being smashed to pieces.

That’s what happens when the EU project was never about a political ”union” – but essentially about the euro as a common currency. No wonder the most important mechanism of European unification is the European Central Bank. Yet abandon all hope of European politicians asking their disgruntled citizens about a real European union. Does anybody still want it? And exactly under what format?

Meet Absurdistan

Why things happened in Italy the way they did? There is scarcely a better explanation than Marco Cattaneo’s, expressed in this blog where he tries to understand ”Absurdistan”.

It all started with an electoral law that even in Italy was defined as ulna porcata (a load of rubbish), validating a ”disproportional” system (political scientists, take note) that could only lead to an ungovernable situation.

In Cattaneo’s matchless depiction, in the Senate the One for All, All For One coalition (Bersani’s) got 31.6% of the votes. The Everyone for Himself coalition (Berlusconi’s) got 30.7%. And the brand new One Equals One All the Others Equal No One movement (Grillo’s) got a surprising 23.8%.

And yet, defying all logic, in the end Everyone for Himself got 116 seats, One for All, All for One got 113 seats, and One Equals One All the Others Equal No One got only 54 – less than half.

At street level, from Naples to Turin and from Rome to Palermo, there’s a parallel explanation. No less than 45% of Italians, from retired civil servants living on 1,000 euros (US$1,300) a month to bankers making 10 million euros a year, don’t want any change at all. Another 45% – the unemployed, the underpaid – want radical change. And 10% don’t care – ever. Add that to the ungovernability lasagna.

And extract from it a nugget of cappuccino-at-the-counter wisdom. Absurdistan’s finances will soon be in a state as dire as Hellenistan – those neighborly descendants of Plato and Aristotle. And then Absurdistan will become a model to Europe and the world – where 1% of the population will control 99% of the national wealth. From Lorenzo de Medici to Berlusconi; talk about Decline and Fall.

Bunga Bunga me baby

Tried to death (including being convicted for tax fraud in October 2012; he walked); beneficiary of dodgy laws explicitly designed to protect himself and his enormous businesses empire; the Rabelaisian Bunga Bunga saga. He beat them all (so far). Silvio Berlusconi may be the ultimate comeback kid. How did he pull it off this time?

It’s easy when you mix a billionaire’s media wattage (and corporate control) with outlandish promises – such as scrapping a much-detested property tax. How to make up for the shortfall? Simple: Silvio promised new taxes on gambling, and a shady deal to recover some of the funds held by Italians in Swiss banks.

Does it matter that Switzerland made it clear it would take years for this scheme to work? Of course not. Even Silvio’s vast opposition was forced to admit the idea was a ”stroke of genius”. Nearly 25% of Italians voted for Silvio’s party. Nearly a third backed his right-wing coalition. In Lombardy – informally known as the Italian Texas – the coalition smashed the center-left to pieces; Tuscany on the other hand voted traditionally left, while Rome is a quintessential swing city.

Silvio’s voters are essentially owners of small and medium-sized businesses; the northern Italy that drives the economy. They are all tax-crazy; that ranges from legions of tax evaders to those who are being asphyxiated by the burden. Obviously, they couldn’t care less about Rome’s budget deficits. And they all think German Chancellor Angela Merkel should rot in Dante’s ninth circle of hell.

Frau Merkel, for her part, had been entertaining the idea of quietly cruising the eurozone waters towards her third term in the coming September elections. Fat chance – now thanks to Silvio’s and Beppe Grillo’s voters. Talk about a North-South abyss in Europe. The EU summit this month is going to be – literally – a riot.

Those sexy polit-clowns

All hell is breaking loose in the EU. Le Monde insists Europe is not in agony. Oh yes, it is; in a coma.

And yet Brussels (the bureaucrat-infested European Commission) and Berlin (the German government) simply don’t care about a Plan B; it’s austerity or bust. Predictably, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem – the new head of the spectacularly non-transparent political committee that runs the euro – said that what Monti was doing (and was roundly rejected by Italians) is ”crucial for the entire eurozone”.

In 2012, Italy’s economy shrank 2.2%, more than 100,000 small businesses went bust (yes, they all voted for Silvio), and unemployment is above 10% (in reality, over 15%). Italy may have the highest national debt in the eurozone after Greece. But here Absurdistan manifests itself once again via austerity; Italy’s fiscal deficit is much lower than France’s and Holland’s.

Pop up the champagne; France is in vertical decadence. It’s not only the industrial decline but also the perennial recession, social turbulence and public debt beyond 90% of GDP. France, the second-largest eurozone economy, asked the European Commission for an extra year to lower its deficit below 3% of GDP. Jens Weidman, president of the Bundesbank, roared ”Forget it”.

Portugal is also asking the troika for some room. Portugal’s economy is shrinking (by 2%) for the third year running, with unemployment at over 17%.

Spain is mired in a horrendous recession, also under a monster debt crisis. GDP fell 0.7% in 2012 and according to Citibank will fall a further 2.2% this year. Unemployment is at an overwhelming 26%, with youth unemployment over 50%. Not everyone can hit the lottery playing for Barcelona or Real Madrid. Ireland has the eurozone’s highest deficit, at 8%, and has just restructured the debt of its banks.

Greece is in its fifth recession year in a row, with unemployment over 30% – and this after two austerity packages. Athens is running around in circles trying to fend off its creditors while at least trying to alleviate some of the draconian cuts. Greeks are adamant; the situation is worse than Argentina in 2001. And remember, Argentina defaulted.

Even Holland is under a serious banking crisis. And to top it off, David Cameron has thrown Britain’s future in Europe in turmoil.

So once again it was Silvio’s turn – who else? – to spice it all up. Only the Cavaliere could boom out that the famous spread – the difference between how much Italy and Germany pay to borrow on the bond markets – had been ”invented” in 2011 by Berlin (the German government) and Frankfurt (the European Central Bank), so they could get rid of himself, Silvio, and ”elect” the technocrat Monti.

German media, also predictably, has been taking no prisoners with relish. Italy and Italians are being routinely derided as ”childlike”, ”ungovernable”, ”a major risk to the eurozone”. (See, for example,Der Spiegel.)

The ultra-popular tabloid Bild even came up with a new pizza; not a Quattro Stagioni (Four Seasons) but a Quattro Stagnazioni (Four Stagnations).

The verdict is of an Italy ”in the hands of polit-clowns that may shatter the euro or force the country to exit”. Even the liberal-progressive Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin defines Italy as ”a danger to Europe”.

Peer Steinbruck, Germany’s former finance minister and the Social Democratic candidate against Merkel next September, summed it all up: “To a certain degree, I am horrified that two clowns won the election.”

So whatever government emerges in Italy, the message from Brussels, Berlin and Frankfurt remains the same: if you don’t cut, cut and cut, you’re on your own.

Germany, for its part, has only a plan A. It spells out ”Forget the Club Med”. This means closer integration with Eastern Europe (and further on down the road, Turkey). A free trade deal with the US. And more business with Russia – energy is key – and the BRICS in general. Whatever the public spin, the fact is German think-tanks are already gaming a dual-track eurozone.

The people want quantitative easing

This aptly titled movie, Girlfriend in a Coma, directed by Annalisa Piras and co-written by former editor of The Economist Bill Emmett, did try to make sense of Italy’s vices and virtues.

And still, not only via Prada or Maserati, Parma ham or Brunello wines, Italy keeps delivering flashes of brilliance; the best app in the world – Atom, which allows the personalization of functions on a mobile phone even if one is not a computer programmer – was created by four 20-somethings in Rome, as Republic reported.

Philosopher Franco Berardi – who way back in the 1970s was part of the Italian autonomous movements – correctly evaluates that what Europe is living today is a direct consequence of the 1990s, when financial capital hijacked the European model and calcified it under neoliberalism.

Subsequently, a detailed case can be made that the financial Masters of the Universe used the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to turbo-charge the political disintegration of the EU via a tsunami of salary cuts, job precariousness for the young, the flattening of pensions and hardcore privatization of everything. No wonder roughly 75% of Italians ended up saying ”No” to Monti and Merkel.

The bottom line is that Europeans – from Club Med countries to some northern economies – are fed up of having to pay the debt accumulated by the financial system.

Grillo’s movement per se – even capturing 8.7 million votes – is obviously not capable of governing Italy. Some of its (vague) ideas have enormous appeal among the younger generations especially an unilateral default on public debt (look at the examples of Argentina, Iceland and Russia), the nationalization of banks, and a certified, guaranteed ”citizenship” income for everyone of 1,000 euros a month. And then there would be referendum after referendum on free-trade agreements, membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and, of course, to stay or not stay within the eurozone.

What Grillo’s movement has already done is to show how ungovernable Europe is under the Monti-Merkel austerity mantra. Now the ball is in the European financial elite’s court. Most wouldn’t mind letting Italy become the new Greece.

So we go back full circle. The only way out would be a political reformulation of the EU. As it is, most of Europe is watching, impotently, the death of the welfare state, sacrificed in the altar of Recession. And that runs parallel to Europe slouching towards global irrelevance – Real Madrid and Bayern Munich notwithstanding.

The Fall of the House of Europe might turn into a horror story beyond anything imagined by Poe – displaying elements of (already visible) fascism, neo-Dickensian worker exploitation and a wide-ranging social, civil war. In this context, the slow reconstruction of a socially based Europe may become no more than a pipe dream.

What would Dante make of it? The great Roberto Benigni, a native of Tuscany, is currently reading and commenting on in depth 12 cantos – from the XI to the XXII – in Dante’s Inferno, a highlight of theDivine Comedy. Spellbound, I watched it on RAI – the square in front of the fabulous Santa Croce church in Florence packed to the rafters, the cosmic perfection of the Maestro’s words making sense of it all.

If only his spirit would enlighten Inferno dwellers from Monti to Merkel, from Silvio to European Central bankers – aligning Man once again with the stars and showing troubled Europe the way.

“Israel” denounces German columnist article on Gaza

(Gaza-file photo)

Press TV

Israel’s Ambassador to Germany Yaakov Hadas-Handelsman has taken a swipe at a German columnist for his article in which he compared the Gaza Strip with the Nazi concentration camps.

In a Saturday interview with the German daily Rheinische Post, Hadas-Handelsman described as “shameful” the comparison that columnist Jakob Augstein made in his article published in Der Spiegel.

The German author had also said that “Gaza is a place out of the end of times… 1.7 million people live there on 360 sq. kilometers.”

Augstein, a vocal critic of the Israeli regime, later said he “went too far” by the word “camp” but again attacked the Israeli regime by comparing it to the former Apartheid regime in South Africa.

The Israeli envoy said any criticism of his regime’s policies by German people is different from similar censures by the British or the Norwegians and urged the Germans to be more careful about their criticism of Israel.

Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty for Palestinians.

Israel denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages and adequate healthcare and education.

Israel invaded the Gaza Strip in mid-November and killed more than 160 people and injured some 1,400 others during eight days of massive airstrikes on the besieged territory.

German cabinet approves Patriot missiles, US to send missiles to Turkey & Russia developing long-range ballistic missile

German Cabinet Approves Patriot Missiles for Turkey

Al Manar

Germany’s cabinet agreed on Thursday to send Patriot missiles and up to 400 soldiers to Turkey to act as a deterrent against any spread of the conflict in Syria across the border, Berlin’s foreign and defense ministries said, Reuters news agency reported.

Turkey, a NATO member, said it needs the air defense batteries to shoot down any missiles that might be fired across its border.

NATO approved its request for the missiles on Tuesday. The Netherlands and the United States also plan to provide Patriot batteries. Deployment is expected to take several weeks.

“The strengthening of the integrated NATO air defense in Turkey is a purely defensive measure which, as a military deterrent, will prevent the conflict within Syria spreading to Turkey,” said the two ministries.

“The deployment does not represent the establishment of or monitoring of a no-fly-zone over Syrian territory or any other offensive step,” they added.

The Patriot deployment will come under the command of SACEUR Allied Troops in Europe, which can also order the use of Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS), said the ministries.

However, Syria and its allies Russia and Iran have criticized the decision on the missiles, saying it increases regional instability.

Approval from Germany’s Bundestag lower house is not expected to be a problem although some opposition lawmakers, mainly Greens, are against the deployment due to fears of getting caught up in a wider regional conflict.

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US to Send Patriot Missiles, 400 Troops to Turkey

Al Manar

The United States is to send two rocket-intercepting Patriot missile batteries and 400 soldiers to Turkey, the New York Times reported.

“The United States plans to send two Patriot missile batteries and about 400 military personnel to Turkey to defend against a possible Syrian missile attack, two allied officials said Thursday,” the paper reported.

It quoted two allied officials as saying that the two batteries would be a part of six Patriot missiles sent to Turkey by Germany and Netherlands (each country will send two batteries).

“All six batteries will be under NATO’s command and control, scheduled to be operational by the end of January,” the daily said.

NATO foreign ministers last week endorsed the decision to send Patriot batteries to Turkey.
NYT quoted officials as saying that the details of how many each nation would send were not worked out until this week.

It will take three weeks to ship and deploy the two American Patriot batteries, a Defense Department official told the daily.

One allied official said it might be possible to speed up the deployment of the German and Dutch batteries if necessary. Each of those nations will also send up to 400 troops.

The United States, Germany and the Netherlands are the only NATO members that have the advanced PAC-3 Patriot system.

The Patriot batteries in Turkey will be linked to NATO’s air-defense system. The response by the missile batteries would be nearly automatic, firing interceptor missiles to destroy the target by ramming into it, a tactic the military calls “hit to kill,” NYT reported.

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Russia Reveals Developing of New Long-Range Ballistic Missile

Al Manar

Russian military announced that the country was developing a new intercontinental ballistic missile in an apparent attempt to remind the United States of Moscow’s rocket capacities.

Revealing the existence of the project for the first time, rocket forces commander General Sergei Karakayev said that several test launches of prototypes had already taken place and the work was on the “right path”, Russian state media said.

Karakayev said the latest test was on October 24 at the Kapustin Yar firing range in the Astrakhan region of southern Russia. He appeared to link the solid-fuel missile’s development to controversial US plans to install missile defense systems in central Europe which have long angered Moscow.

“The solid fuel missile will allow us to realise possibilities like the creation of a high-precision strategic missile with a non-nuclear warhead with practically global range,” Karakayev was quoted as saying by the state RIA Novosti news agency. He said that the new 100-tonne missile would be able to overcome any existing missile defence system.

Karakayev added the missile would also be effective in combating any future missile defence system that the United States could install in space. He said that the missile would ultimately replace Russia’s new generation of intercontinental missiles the Yars and Topol-M.

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Russia Has Not, Will Not Change Syria Stance

Al Manar

Russia denied on Friday its top diplomat Mikhail Bogdanov made any statement on Syria, stressing it would not change its stance concerning the ongoing crisis in the Middle Eastern country.

“We would like to remark that he (Bogdanov) has made no statements or special interviews with journalists in the last days,” ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement.

Media reported earlier on Thursday that Bogdanov told a meeting of the Public Chamber official oversight body that President Bashar al-Assad’s regime was losing more and more control of Syria.

Lukashevich confirmed that the hearing with the Social Chamber had taken place but said Bogdanov had “once again confirmed the principled Russian position about the lack of alternative to a political solution in Syria.”

He also assured that Moscow has never changed its position from the Syrian crisis.

“We have never changed our position (on Syria) and we never will,” Lukashevich said.

“Our position remains in effect,” he told reporters. “It is unchanged.”

German banks asked to facilitate medicine sales to Iran

Press TV

Germany has called on its banks to authorize financial transactions with Iranian banks in a bid to ease restrictions on the sale of much-needed medicines to Iran.

In a letter carried in the Sunday issue of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the German Foreign Ministry called on German banks to stop blocking transactions with Iranian banks for medicine sales.

The letter has been sent by German Foreign Ministry diplomat Emily Haber to President of the Federal Association of German Cooperative Banks (BVR) Uwe Frohlich.

The letter asked German banks to “look into how they can facilitate transactions between Germany and Iran for humanitarian purposes.”

“Obviously some German banks are refusing to process these transactions, with reference to the political situation and EU sanctions,” Haber wrote.

Iranian health authorities say recent illegal sanctions, imposed by the US and the EU, have made it impossible to obtain the medicines needed to treat some diseases.

A transplant surgeon recently told Press TV that the US-engineered sanctions against the Islamic Republic have caused a shortage of medicine in Iran, endangering the lives of many patients.

Millions of patients, suffering from diseases such as diabetes, kidney failure, hemophilia, multiple sclerosis, thalassemia, and leukemia, are affected by the sanctions.

The illegal US-engineered sanctions were imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program…

“Israel” Lobby of Germany: Targeting Judith Butler

RB comment: Freedom of speech anyone? It seems to apply to some and not to others or rather the rights is abused to certain ends.

by Ludwig Watzal – Bonn, source

Smear campaigns against people who do not follow the narrowly defined, politically correct, rhetoric concerning the permanent violations of human rights and Israel’s brutal oppression of the Palestinian people are regularly conducted by the right-wing pro-Zionist ‘Israel Lobby’ in Germany.

Their newest victim was Judith Butler, Professor in the Departments of Rhetoric and Comparative Literature and the Co-director of the Program of Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley. Butler is also active in gender and sexual politics and human rights, anti-war politics, and the Jewish Voice for Peace. She was awarded this year’s Adorno prize of the city of Frankfort. The prize is endowed with 50,000 Euro and is awarded every three years.

Why was Judith Butler slandered? Her “misdemeanors” were that she considers Hamas and Hizbollah as belonging to the global left and because of her support of the BDS-campaign (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions), targeting Israeli goods coming from the occupied Palestinian territories. After the decision to award her the Adorno prize was announced, all hell broke loose. The protesters’ procession was led by the secretary general of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Stephan Kramer, followed by Israel’s ambassador in Germany and the usual others.

Kramer accused Butler of being an “avowed Israel hater” and an “accomplice” to the BDS initiative, despite Judith Butler’s nuanced approach towards BDS. But classifying Hamas and Hizbollah as part of the global left ignores their archaic and fundamentalist worldview, especially towards women. Kramer did not, however, conflate Butler’s critique of Israeli government’s policy with “anti-Semitism”. The controversy surrounding the Adorno prize revealed also the tension between universalistic ethic within Judaism and the nationalistic, self-righteous tendencies of Zionism.

In the controversy that surrounded her, Butler remained steadfast, and she received support inter alia from German intellectuals such as Professor Micha Brumlik from the University of Frankfort and from Professor Neve Gordon of the Ben-Gurion University in Beer-Sheva. Gordon wrote, “The well-orchestrated witch-hunt initiated by the so-called Scholars for Peace in the Middle East against Judith Butler is a sly attempt – based on half-truths and lies – to silence a staunch critic of Israel’s rights-abusive policies in the Occupied Territories.”

The smear campaigns by the “Israel Lobby” in Germany occur periodically. Before the current campaign against Butler, there was one against Nobel laureate in literature Guenter Grass who dared – in his poem “What has to be said” – to suggest that the Israeli government is a bigger threat to world peace than Iran. Although the Central Council of Jews in Germany was also involved in that campaign, most slander was carried out by mainstream German media with the exception of Jakob Augstein’s weekly “der Freitag”.

Two years ago, the famous Israeli human rights lawyer Felicia Langer, who lives in Germany, was severely slandered by the “Israel Lobby” and its infamous extremist supporters, when she received the prestigious “Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany First Class”. Some of the slanderers did not even shrink from attempting to blackmail Germany’s President by threatening to return to him their own medals, should he fail to withdraw the Order of Merit from Ms. Langer.

How Palestinian scholars are treated by German institutions and their representatives is exemplified by the case of the renowned British-Palestinian scholar Dr. Ghada Karmi from the University of Exeter. In February 2012, Ms. Karmi was invited to deliver a speech on Palestine at a Middle East conference at the University of Bremen. At the last minute the invitation was withdrawn, the university suddenly claiming that her views were “not appropriate”. Later it turned out that an Israeli Ph. D. student had protested that the conference and Ms Karmi were “anti-Semitic”. Such unfounded allegations were also leveled against Professor Ilan Pappé, an Israeli Jew, to prevent him from speaking in public in Germany.

But things got even worse for Ms Karmi as she attended a conference on June 8-9, 2012 at the Free University of Berlin, organized by the university’s Research College in cooperation with the German Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Karmi later commented: “What followed was a depressing display of German sycophancy towards the Israeli participants and a barely disguised discomfort with me, as if they had regretted their boldness in allowing a Palestinian voice to be heard.” She was introduced to the conference by a representative of the German Council on Foreign Relations as a person who according to “some Israelis” is “a Palestinian terrorist”. There was no outcry by the audience and no apology to her followed. Had a representative of the German Council on Foreign Relations dared to introduce an Israeli scholar as a person, who according to “some Palestinians” is “an Israeli terrorist”, his career would have immediately ended.

These smear campaigns reflect the desolate political landscape in Germany.

‘German joke: Russia offers Assad asylum’ & Clinton: Sanctions under chapter 7, Russia, China to pay price

German joke: Russia offers Assad asylum

Al Manar

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed on Thursday that some of its Western partners had asked Moscow to offer Syrian President Bashar al-Assad asylum but said it had dismissed the idea as a joke.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the idea was first raised by German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her June 1 talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Berlin.

“Our side thought this was a joke and responded with a joke – how about you, the Germans, take Mr. Assad instead,” Lavrov said during a joint press appearance with his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle.

Lavrov said he was “quite surprised” when the idea was raised again during a meeting of Western and regional powers on the crisis in Geneva on Saturday.

“While discussing the subject of Syria, I heard them say they were convinced that we would take him and thus resolve all the problems of the Syrian people,” Russia’s top diplomat said.

“This is either a dishonest attempt to deceive serious people involved in foreign policy or a misunderstanding of the facts.”

Russia has previously rejected the idea of hosting the Syrian strongman while refusing to say whether it had actually been approached on the subject by the West.

Putin himself was forced to dismiss such speculation just days after his election to an historic third term in March.

Lavrov once again argued that any attempts at forced regime change were doomed to end in even greater violence.

“Yes, the regime bears the main responsibility. And governments bear the main responsibility for ensuring the security of their people,” said Lavrov.

But those who seek regime change in Syria “ignore the fact that we are not talking about a few dozen people — as they tell us we are — but a very large part of the Syrian population that ties its security to the current president,” he stressed.

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Clinton: for Syria Sanctions under Chapter 7, Russia, China to Pay Price

Al Manar

As she urged an UN resolution on a transition in Syria backed by sanctions, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that Russia and China would pay a price as the two nations were “holding up progress” in Syria.

“We should go back and ask for a resolution in the Security Council that imposes real and immediate consequences for non-compliance, including sanctions under Chapter 7,” which covers economic measures to military force, Clinton said.

Talking at the so-called “Friends of Syria” meeting in Paris, she called on the 100 nations and organizations in the conference to “reach out to Russia and China” to demand that they “get off the sidelines and begin to support the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people.”

Taking a tough tone, she said she thought the two nations did “not believe they are paying any price at all for standing up on behalf of the regime” of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“The only way that will change is if every nation represented here directly and urgently makes it clear, that Russia and China will pay a price. They are holding up progress, blockading it. That is no longer tolerable,” Clinton said.

But she ‘praised’ the “progress” that had been made, saying there is “a steady, inexorable march towards ending this regime.”

She also ‘condemned’ countries at the meeting who had agreed to work towards helping the Syrian people, but who were not imposing sanctions, allowing Assad to stay in power.

“What is keeping him afloat, is money from Iran and assistance from Russia and the failure of countries here to tighten and enforce sanctions,” she said.

“You cannot call for transition on the one hand and give the government a free pass on sanctions on the other.”

Netanyahu thanks Germany for nuclear-armed submarine sale

Press TV

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised and thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her commitment to Israel’s security by the recent sale to Tel Aviv of a submarine that is capable of being armed with atomic warheads.

“I take her commitment to Israel very seriously,” said Netanyahu in an exclusive interview with German Bild newspaper on Tuesday. “There is a commitment to Israel’s security that is exemplified by the recent sale of another German submarine, an important adjunct to our national security.”

Asked whether there could be a scenario in which German troops would fight for the Israeli regime, Netanyahu replied, “While I appreciate Germany’s concern for Israel’s security, the most important assistance that can be given to Israel is – to paraphrase Churchill — to give us the tools and we will do the job of defending ourselves.”

The Israeli premiere went on to reiterate that the sale of the nuclear-capable German submarines to the regime was “very important” for defending Israel’s security.

Although the German newspaper did not mention the capability of the submarine, prominent German news magazine Der Speigel revealed in a report a couple of days earlier that the Israeli regime “is arming the submarines with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.” The magazine further noted that the German government “has known about Israel’s nuclear weapons program for decades, despite its official denials.”

According to Spiegel, a German shipyard in the northern city of Kiel has already built three Dolphin submarines for Israel, which has been largely paid for by the German government and delivered to Tel Aviv, and deliveries of three more are planned.

The Tel Aviv regime is widely believed to possess hundreds of nuclear warheads. Israel neither denies nor confirms its possession of the atomic arms under its policy of nuclear ambiguity. The regime, furthermore, has never allowed any international inspection of its nuclear sites and persistently refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Art, writing must challenge pornography of war

Nakba

by Dallas Darling, source

Those attacking German novelist Gunter Grass, who wrote a poem criticizing Israel’s nuclear weapons program and arsenal, should recall what Pablo Picasso once said: “Art is not done to decorate apartments, it is an instrument of war against brutality and darkness.”(1) Picasso had just finished painting Guernica, a vivid yet infamous masterpiece that had captured and exposed the cruelty and destructiveness of a fascist-like war.

In 1937, Nazi Germany supported General Francisco Franco’s Spanish fascists in an effort to destroy the morale of republican and communist enemies. German bombers mounted a four-hour-long attack on Guernica, the capital of the northern Basque region of Spain. The town was almost completely destroyed. Thousands of innocent civilians, including women and children, were indiscriminately bombed and murdered from the air.

Picasso’s critical artistic painting depicts a horse, a symbol of republican Spain, screaming as it is speared through its chest. On the right, figures flee from a burning house, on the left, a mother carries a dead infant in her arms. The horrific scene watched over in the top left-hand corner by a rampant bull, signifying the military aggression of General Franco and fascist forces. A decapitated body lies on the bottom holding a lone flower.(2)

Such critical artistic expression, like that of Picasso and Grass, has been missing from mainstream culture and thought. Israel and the United States have both been seduced by the pornography of war and weapons technologies. Israeli soldiers have worn shirts making light of shooting pregnant Palestinian mothers and children. One even reads, “The smaller, the harder,” as it shows a weeping Palestinian mother next to her child’s grave.(3)

The U.S. National Security State and Pentagon continually sexualizes war and military campaigns through films, magazines, photographs, and a commercialized electronic media. Warfare and military service is transformed into a seductive prostitute by making them appear exciting and glamorous. Youth are aroused and stimulated by seeing strong and handsome and beautiful young men and women adorning uniforms and carrying weapons.

Pentagon commercials and violent, military-oriented, video games induce a sexualized and orgasmic thrill in killing others, especially those portrayed as Arabs or enemies that the U.S. “labels.” America’s love affair with preemptive wars also reveals a fascination with sexual assault, even rape. Just as rapists select their prey and stalk their victims, sometimes killing them, the U.S. selects and stalks other nations, militarily invading and raping them.

Grass, a Nobel literature laureate, has again revived the concept that artistic expression and writing are critical instruments of war and should be used against the brutalities and its “dark side.” Like the atrocities that occurred at Guernica with its utter and indiscriminate bombing of civilians, the pornography of war might arouse complete power, mastery, and control, but it is humanly and morally wrong. Such militant fetishes also backfire.

Israel’s and the U.S.’s nuclear arsenals are shameful and the moral equivalence to war and genocide, as are other nations that stockpile nuclear missiles. They pose a threat to world peace, as Grass mentioned in his poem. There is nothing anti-Semitic about Grass challenging both Israel and Iran to open their nuclear programs to inspections. It is merely critical artistic expression and writing that promotes humankind and life.

Critical art and dangerous writing confronts and challenges the pornography of war and the “dark side” of warfare. It either exposes or tries to prevent naked aggression, rape, torture and death-all brutal methods of control and conquest. It helps free humanity from totalitarian thinking. It is human expression at its best and should never be feared or censored. Both Picasso and Grass understood this important truth.

Will the writer and artist in each of us do the same?

- Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John‘s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace.

Notes:

(1) Vaughan, William. Encyclopedia Of World Artists. Hoo, Near Rochester: The Brown Reference Group, 2007., p. 329.
(2) Ibid., p. 329
(3) Sky News. http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/15245946.

Zionist lobby made German church ban Palestinian Nakba exhibition

Moqawama

A German church in the western city of “Duesseldorf” has called off plans for hosting an exhibit on the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe), the daily German “Rheinische Post” reported.

Claiming that “the exhibit was one-sided,” the Zionist German Lobby Pressure succeeded in banning the exhibition for the second time in the German city after a similar stop in March.

Germany’s powerful Zionist regime lobby has had its hands full to force cancellations of Nakba exhibitions across the country over the past years amid “Israel’s” dismal image among Germans.

Many Germans regard the Zionist regime as one of the greatest threats to global peace, especially in the wake of “Israel’s” murderous wars in Lebanon in 2006 and Gaza in 2009.

They also strongly oppose “Israel’s” massive human rights violations and racial policies in occupied Palestine.

German police raid rightists’ homes

Press TV

German police have confiscated weapons and ammunition in a raid on suspected right-wing extremists in Germany’s southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, the prosecutor’s office in Stuttgart says.

Some 140 police officers raided the homes of 18 people linked with a group known as “Standarte Wuerrttemberg,” seizing arms, ammunition, drugs and computers on Wednesday.

The prosecutor’s office said the extremist group, which advocates expelling all foreigners from Germany, has been under investigation since March.

The office added that the investigations were not related to last week’s bombing and shooting attacks by a far-right extremist in Norway…

Poll: US bigger peace threat than Iran & mounting dissatisfaction of Arabs’ majority in Obama’s administration

Poll: US Bigger Peace Threat than Iran, 99% of Lebanese Disapprove Obama Policies

Source

A poll carried out by the German Social Research and Statistical Analysis, Forsa, indicated that 45% of those surveyed believe that the US is a more serious threat to world peace than Iran.

Of those surveyed, 28% considered Iran to be a bigger threat to world peace than the US, while 27% couldn’t decide between the two.

The Forsa poll which was conducted between 17 and 29 June, questioning some 1,500 Germans, did not include “Israel” in the poll, which some analysts believe is more of a threat to world peace than most countries.

This comes in light of the US struggle to impose new pressure and sanctions on Iran over its peaceful nuclear program.
On another hand, a new poll was released on Wednesday, revealing the mounting dissatisfaction of a majority of the Arabs with the US President Barak Obama’s administration policies in the Middle East.

The poll was conducted by the Arab American Institute in six Arab nations; Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The results showed that the Obama administration is not viewed as favorable as did that of George W. Bush.

The percentage of the aforementioned poll found that only 5% of Egyptians, 10% of Jordanians, and 12% in the UAE surveyed approved of the US and its president’s policies in office.

In Morocco, 88% of the people surveyed expressed that Obama did not meet the expectation in his 2009 “Cairo Speech”, and 77% of the Saudis said that they felt the US has betrayed them.

The biggest disappointment for the US, its president, and administration was found in Lebanon, for some 99% of the population surveyed spoke low of the Obama office, and disapproved his policies, especially those practiced in the Middle East and Lebanon.

Bahrain: Protesters denounce talks with regime & German tanks serve Saudi crackdowns

Protests (3/7/2011):

Bahrainis denounce talks with regime

Press TV

Bahraini protesters have taken to the streets to deplore negotiations between the kingdom’s rulers and the opposition groups hours after the onset of the so-called “National Dialogue.”

The Persian Gulf country’s main opposition party, Al-Wefaq, made a last-ditch effort to join the dialogue but has threatened to withdraw from the talks if the government ignores the people’s demands.

The protesters convened in the capital city of Manama, chanting “No dialogue” just hours after reconciliation talks between the Western-backed ruling Al Khalifah regime and the Mainly Shia opposition were inaugurated in the tiny sheikdom.

Similar demonstrations were held in the city of Sitra, east of the country.

On Saturday, a funeral for a victim of the regime’s clampdown on popular dissent turned into an anti-government demonstration as the participants marched toward the capital’s Martyr Square, formerly known as Pearl Square.

In March, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates deployed military forces to Bahrain to help the regime crush nationwide protests that broke out in mid-February.

Political tensions have been running high in Bahrain with anti-government demonstrations raging on in several towns across the island nation.

The angry demonstrators have been shouting anti-regime slogans and calling for King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to step down.

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German tanks serve Saudi crackdowns

Press TV

Germany has abandoned self-restraint in offering heavy weapons to autocratic regimes, choosing to sell scores of battle tanks to Saudi Arabia.

The decision for the sale of 200 Leopard tanks worth billions of dollars was revealed by the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel on Saturday. The plan was enabled by Berlin’s removal of a decades-long ban on the sale of heavy weaponry to Riyadh.

The latest generation of the Leopard 2A7+ tank is the upgraded version of the German battle tank first presented in 2010.

In a promotional video, the tank is described as being able to create fear in protesters and remove obstacles.

Der Spiegel wrote that the sales take place while Saudi King Abdullah has not had a peaceful presence in the region over the past several months and has suppressed the revolution in Bahrain, using his military forces.

Bahrainis launched a peaceful popular uprising in February, demanding an end to the Al Khalifa family’s rule over the Persian Gulf sheikdom…

Germans protest N-waste transport

Press TV

Thousands of anti-nuclear activists protest along the route of a nuclear waste train in Germany, demanding an end to the transportation of radioactive waste.

Various anti-nuclear protests took place across Germany on Sunday. In Greifswald, 1,500 citizens marched through the streets peacefully, in disagreement with the continued nuclear waste transports taking place where they live.

The protests come ahead of the transport of waste from a nuclear plant in Karlsruhe to Lubmin in the north of Germany, scheduled to arrive on Tuesday.

“Tons of waste containing highly radioactive substances is transferred to a temporary storage unit which is not safe,” Deputy Head of the Local Union Office Annett Beitz told Press TV.

Protesters say there are no contingency plans to stop likely accidents from happening during the transport.

The speaker for the Environment Protection Charity told Press TV that containers had a forty-year guaranty and that it was not yet known what would happen afterwards. Health hazards like contamination could happen if anything leaks out into underwater currents.

“It’s a big problem because many people actually are not aware of all these dangers because normally you cannot read about these in the newspapers, or anywhere… So this is very important for us to tell the people and tell them about all these dangers,” Nadia Tegtmeyer of the Anti-Nuclear Alliance told Press TV.

Despite the protests, the government has voted in favor of maintaining nuclear power plants for another 10 to 15 years. This move has been heavily criticized by the opposition.

Activists told Press TV that the movement was gaining momentum in the country and that they plan to hinder all types of atomic waste transports from running smoothly. Road and railway blocks are scheduled to take place during the next transport on Tuesday night.

Day 14: US backs Mubarak’s cling to power and talks fail to end Egypt protests

by Carlos Latuff

US backs Mubarak’s cling to power

Press TV

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has voiced her support for embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, alleging that his early exit could raise electoral complications.

Mubarak may need to stay on longer than many of his opponents want in order to ensure elections succeed, Clinton said on Sunday.

“We’re going to try to work with a lot of like-minded countries around the world to offer whatever assistance we can,” she said.

“We have experts in holding credible elections, we have experts in writing constitutions.”

“This is important, to look over the horizon. You don’t want to get to September, have a failed election, and then people feel … what was the point of it?” she added.

Speaking to reporters on the way back from international talks on Egypt in Germany, Clinton stressed that the timetable of Mubarak’s departure lies with the Egyptian people.

For the past 30 years, Egypt has been not only a crucial US partner in the Middle East, but a linchpin in Washington’s strategy for a future Israeli-Palestinian agreement.

Washington gave Cairo USD 1.3 billion in military aid and USD 250 million in economic aid in the 2010 fiscal year.

Clinton backs Mubarak’s stay at a time the Egyptian army fires into the air to disperse protesters in the capital’s Liberation Square amid continuing demonstrations against the unpopular president.

Millions of Egyptians have for two weeks taken to the streets across the country to call for the ouster of the Mubarak regime. More than 300 people are estimated to have been killed since the protests began.

—————————————————————————————-

Talks fail to end Egypt protests

Al Jazeera

Pro-democracy protests continue at Tahrir Square, a day after government held talks with opposition to end turmoil.

Pro-democracy protesters are continuing their sit-in in Cairo’s Tahrir (Liberation) Square, showing no signs of being appeased by talks held a day earlier between the government and opposition groups.

Demonstrators seeking the immediate ousting of Hosni Mubarak, the president, were still camped out in the square on Monday, while life was slowly getting back to normal in other parts of the Egyptian capital following a fortnight of turmoil.

The protesters were to be visited by Wael Ghonim, a Google executive who had played a key role in helping the demonstrations get organised, and who was released on Monday by Egyptian authorities after having disappeared on January 27.

A symbolic funeral procession was also held in the square for a journalist killed by a sniper during the unrest. The procession was led by the journalist’s wife and daughter.

The UN says at least 300 people have been killed in the violence since the demonstrations began.

An Al Jazeera correspondent said traffic in the streets was increasing while businesses were beginning to reopen.

“There’s a lot of popular public sentiments in Cairo and wider Egypt regarding what those protesters are trying to achieve but at the same time, people are trying to get back to live as normal lives as possible,” he said.

“But some of the shopping malls for example are still closed because they’re afraid of looting, and the banks yesterday were only open for a few hours.”

Another correspondent, also in Cairo, said: “There are divisions. On one side, people do agree with the messages coming out of Tahrir Square, but on the other, Egypt is a country where about 40 per cent of the population lives on daily wages.”

Tanks continue to guard government buildings, embassies and other important institutions in the capital.

The curfew in major Egyptian cities, which has largely been ignored by protesters, has now been shortened to run from 8pm to 6am local time, and the Egyptian stock market is set to reopen for trading on Sunday.

The bourse has been closed since January 27, when it plummeted 17 per cent over two days.

The Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority, the national financial regulator, will announce new measures affecting trading, according to a statement.

Cabinet meeting

On Monday, the government announced that it was raising all public sector salaries and pensions by 15 per cent, as Mubarak chaired the first full meeting of his cabinet since unrest began on January 25, the state MENA news agency reported.

Samir Radwan, the country’s new finance minister, told MENA that increasing pensions will cost the government 6.5 billion Egyptian pounds ($940m), while a five billion pound ($840m) fund has also been created to compensate those affected by looting or vandalism during the protests.

While the government is keen on projecting the image of stability returning to the country, however, protesters are unconvinced.

“The word ‘stability’ is a word the regime uses all the time – but … what is stability without freedom?” Dr Sally Moore, a representative of the Popular Campaign in Support of Elbaradei (one of six groups that makes the “Youth of the Egyptian Revolution” coalition), told Al Jazeera.

“We are in for the long haul. The regime is trying to play us against the people in Tahrir Square, but we always remind them they are our people, our families.

“We are talking about freedom … about lost rights for 30 years, … about torture … and I think people want radical change, not only minor reform.”

Meanwhile, an Al Jazeera online producer, reporting from the square, said relations between the protesters and the troops had been turning tense.

On Sunday night, troops stationed near the Egypt Museum briefly opened fire.

Tensions also rose when soldiers attempted to reinforce a barbed wire fence, which the protesters resisted. Agitated protesters staged a sit-in and two of them were detained.

‘People’s revolution’

Omar Suleiman, the country’s newly appointed vice-president, began meetings with six opposition groups on Sunday, including the banned Muslim Brotherhood (MB), in an attempt to end the crisis.

However, Salma El-Tarzi, an activist in Tahrir Square, told Al Jazeera that she was indifferent to the talks.

“The political parties can do whatever they please because they don’t represent us,” she said.

“This is not a revolution made by the parties. The parties have been there for 30 years and they’ve done nothing. This is the people’s revolution.”

Some analysts have called the Muslim Brotherhood’s participation in the dialogue a major concession.

The group had initially refused to participate in any negotiations unless Mubarak resigned.

Essam El-Erian, a member of the MB, Egypt’s largest opposition group, told Al Jazeera that it has to participate ”in any dialogue that can meet the demands of the people”.

“This process can encourage more people to be added to protesters in Tahrir Square and all over the country.

“We’ve gone to the dialogue to enforce the revolution … to add more pressure on Mubarak and his regime to leave.”

However, another member of the movement played down the meeting, saying the MB is not prepared to drop its central demand of calling for Mubarak to resign as president.

“We cannot call it talks or negotiations. The Muslim Brotherhood went with a key condition that cannot be abandoned … that he [Mubarak] needs to step down in order to usher in a democratic phase,” Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh told Al Jazeera.

Reforms pledged

According to a statement from Suleiman’s office following the meeting, the government offered to form a committee to examine proposed constitutional amendments, pursue allegedly corrupt government officials, “liberalise” media and communications and lift the state of emergency in the country when the security situation was deemed to be appropriate.

But Fotouh said the government had failed to take concrete measures on the ground.

“If they were serious, the parliament would have been dissolved, also a presidential decree ending the emergency law”.

Egypt has been under emergency rule since 1981, the year Mubarak assumed power.

Barack Obama, the US president, made new remarks on the political situation in Egypt after the meeting.

He told the US television network Fox that Egyptians would not permit a repressive government to fill the Mubarak void, adding that the Muslim Brotherhood is only one faction in Egypt.

“But here’s the thing that we have to understand, there are a whole bunch of secular folks in Egypt, there are a whole bunch of educators and civil society in Egypt that want to come to the fore as well.

“So it’s important for us not to say that our own only two options are either the Muslim Brotherhood or a suppressed people.”

In remarks made on the sidelines of a speaking enagement on Monday, Obama said Egypt was “making progress” through the ongoing negotiations.

Our correspondent in Cairo said the pro-democracy protesters were still not pleased with Obama’s stance on the crisis.

“Protesters tell me Obama still hasn’t come up with any statement that they want to hear,” he said.

“They want immediate change and the feeling among many of them is that the way US is handling this crisis is not good for the way America is perceived both here and in general in the wider region.”

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Mubarak offered refuge in Germany

Press TV

German parliamentarians have agreed to allow the out-of-favor Egyptian president into Germany for an extended health checkup as anti-Mubarak protests enter their 14th day.

Legislators from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition and their Free Democratic partners welcomed the idea to give President Hosni Mubarak what they called a face-saving way to leave power.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, however, refused to comment on the issue during a speech on a local German television.

Westerwelle said the government would not make any speculation on such crucial matters.

This comes after US media reported that Mubarak would depart for Germany as part of an exit strategy to allow the transition of power in Egypt.

The deputy head of the Germany’s Left Party, Jan van Aken, earlier said there were images showing German-made weapons being used by the Mubarak regime against protesters.

The US is sending warships and other military assets to Egypt as anti-government protests gain momentum.

Two US warships have already arrived in the Red Sea, one of which is carrying up to 800 troops.

Officials in Washington say the US is preparing for a possible evacuation of Americans from Egypt.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has denied contemplating military intervention in Egypt.

It stressed that sending American warships solely serves the purpose of evacuating US citizens in the event that the situation deteriorates.

Meanwhile, a US aircraft carrier has been ordered to abort its mission and stay in the Mediterranean.

The developments come as the opposition says the regime’s proposed reforms are far from enough.

Millions of Egypt ions are protesting against President Mubarak’s three-decade rule.

People from all walks of life are flooding into Cairo’s Liberation Square and many have been spending nights at the square despite heavy military presence.

Israeli Enemy behind Hariri’s Murder: Realistic Scenario

by Ali Oubani – Translated, Al Manar

18/12/2010 “The conspiracy of the STL will go with the wind just like the fate of previous conspiracies,” Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said on Thursday, referring to the expected indictment to be released by the so-called Special Tribunal for Lebanon over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri’s case.
 
As everyone in the world knows, the mentioned international tribunal is set to accuse Hezbollah of involvement in the assassination, as part of a plot to embroil Lebanon into a sedition scheme, from which escaping would not be easy. The indictment is already written, it’s also awaiting the correct political timing, amid reports of efforts undertaken to reach a “consensus” in the case.
 
The scenario is already set. It’s true. But what about drawing other scenarios? What about taking into consideration a potential Israeli role in the murder, a hypothesis that was always ignored by the so-called “independent” tribunal? Why is such scenario more than realistic?
 
These questions are more than legal, given the politicized aspect of the tribunal and the tribunal, which turned to be a tool in the hands of the United States and the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon and its Resistance, to achieve the unachieved goals of the July 2006 war.
 
HARIRI’S MURDER… “ISRAEL’S” BENEFIT

No doubt, if anyone wants to commit any crime, he must have a clear goal or motive to do so. He must have an interest in accomplishing the mission.
 
The assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri doesn’t seem to be an exception. The targeted person was believed to “represent” Lebanon, given his solid background, local and international relationships and friendships as well as his position as the head of consecutive government and the leader of the Sunni sect in Lebanon, without forgetting his status as a rich and prominent businessman who had various projects in Lebanon but also in other countries.
 
The first conclusion in this case is that whoever killed Hariri had the goal to target Hariri’s position and status, not his person. It goes without saying that whoever killed Hariri had a goal he wanted to achieve through his murder.
 
No doubt, the circumstances surrounding the crime and its carrying out play a major role in revealing some details or signals which might have interpretations in this context.
 
Among the achieved goals following the assassination are the following:
1-    witnessing the withdrawal of the Syrian forces from Lebanon, a clause mentioned in international resolution 1559;
2-   changing the general policy of the Sunni sect in Lebanon, which turned from the pro-Syria and anti-US camp to the completely opposite one;
3-   mobilizing the Lebanese public opinion in the direction of the United States and Israel against the Resistance and tarnishing its image by accusing it of involvement in the murder;
4-   punishing Syria for its lack of cooperation in Iraq and pressuring its regime to reach compromises that would help the American policy;
5-   imposing a French and American direct supervision on Lebanon through domination its decision making centers as well as political authority;
6-   weakening Lebanon’s military power and seeking to disarm its Resistance;
7-   creating pressure tools (international investigation, tribunal) to get rid of Syria and the Resistance.
 
All the mentioned points show that Syria has absolutely no interest in killing Hariri and therefore destabilizing Lebanon and the region, amid an international direction to isolate the Syrian regime, which was well represented through the resolution 1559. Worth mentioning that the alliance between Damascus and Hariri continued until the latter’s last day, given that Hariri reiterated in his last statement commitment to solid relations with Syria, in accordance with national and Arab deep commitments.
 
In conclusion, Israel and the United States are believed to be the ones that benefited the most from the February 14 crime, while Lebanon and Syria were absolutely the most hurt entities by the murder.
 
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?

The goals of Hariri’s murder seem to be ambiguous. The way the crime was carried out also remained ambiguous.
 
What has been generally accepted is that the attack had been perpetrated by a suicide bomber driving a van packed with explosives. However, the crime scene was not examined in detail. The victims were not exhumed and no autopsies were performed.
 
After discarding the hypothesis of a bomb buried in the ground, the investigators espoused the one involving the van without bothering to verify it. And yet, this version is implausible as French analyst Thierry Meyssan has stated. “When looking at the photos and videos taken immediately after the attack, the first most striking feature is the blaze. Car parts and various types of objects are burning all around. Then, the bodies of the victims: they are charred on one side and intact on the other, an astonishing phenomenon which bears no resemblance to what is normally caused by conventional explosives. The theory that the van was transporting a mix of RDX, PETN and TNT does not account for the damages occurred.”
 
So what really happened?
 
According to Meyssan, the explosion generated a blast of an exceptionally intense heat and exceptionally brief duration. “When we asked a number of military experts what kind of explosives would be capable of generating such damage, they mentioned a new type of weapon which has been developed over several decades and is featured in reports appearing in scientific journals. The combination of nuclear and nonotechnology science can trigger an explosion the exact strength of which can be regulated and controlled. The weapon is set up to destroy everything within a given perimeter, down to the nearest centimeter. (…) The weapon is shaped like a small missile, a few tens of centimeters long. It must be fired from a drone. Actually, several witnesses assured they had heard an aircraft flying over the scene of the crime. The investigators asked the United States and Israel, whose surveillance satellites are permanently switched on, to provide them with the pertinent images. (…) But Washington and Tel Aviv – which indefatigably urge all parties to cooperate with the STL – turned down the request.”
 
All the information mentioned above leads to the conclusion that there are strong facts, pointing to an Israeli involvement in Hariri’s assassination.
 
EVIDENCE AGAINST “ISRAEL”

The first evidence that could be used against Israel in the case is its own acknowledgements. Recently, former Israeli Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin recognizes the management of several murders by Israel in Lebanon. Yadlin admitted that Israel benefited from the assassination of the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, adding that following the murder of Hariri, Tel Aviv was able to launch more than one terror operation in Lebanon, such as bomb attacks and assassinations of Lebanese figures. He noted that the murder of Hariri helped Israel restore a huge number of spy rings and espionage networks, inside Lebanon, through which Israel was able to spot prominent figures of Hezbollah.
 
Another evidence against Israel was revealed by German journalist Jurgen Cain Kulbel who highlighted a disturbing detail: it would have been impossible to trigger the explosion by remote control or by marking the target without first deactivating the powerful interference system built into Rafiq Hariri’s convoy. A system among the most sophisticated in the world, manufactured in… Israel.
 
This is not everything. Hezbollah actually intercepted and released videos from Israeli drones surveying Rafiq Hariri’s movements and the scene of the crimes. All of Hariri’s movements had been registered for months, until the final day when all the surveillance converged on the bend in the road where the attack was staged. Thus, Tel Aviv had been surveying the area prior to the assassination.
 
CONCLUSION

In conclusion, it goes without saying that the United States and the Israeli enemy were the most beneficiary parties of the assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Far from the crime’s goals, an analysis of the crime scene shows that Israel is the first suspect.
 
As French analyst Thierry Meyssan said, the truth ultimately seeps through. “The Israeli drone videos released by Hezbollah expose Israel’s involvement in the crime preparations. The facts revealed by Odnako point to the use of a sophisticated German weapon. The puzzle is nearly complete.”